Her Name Is Alice
by sparklylulz
Summary: Soon after Alice's departure the White Queen had reappointed him to his old position.. it helped to take his mind off the blond girl that had once slipped through his fingers. -Tim Burton universe. Hatter/Alice.


**A/N: Gasp! It's something other than Glee! Well, I just loved Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland so much I couldn't leave the Hatter alone. While I know that Johnny said that the Hatter and Alice were more like siblings, I love the idea of the Hatter falling in love, so here is an Alice/Hatter one shot, it's not too crazy, but I think it came out alright. :)**

–

_**'her name is alice'**_

When she left, the Hatter had made over two thousand, and seven hundred hats for various queens. There were red ones, green ones, tall ones, and small ones. He was a Hatter, after all, no matter crazy everyone seemed to think him. Soon after Alice's departure the White Queen had reappointed him to his old position, which helped him restore his love for the craft he had done for so long he couldn't even remember. It also took his mind off the blond girl that had once slipped through his fingers, a very long time ago.

He was busy in the workshop in the left part of the right wing of the castle. He was creating many new hats, some for the Queen and some for the Cheshire cat. He had always kept count of the number of hats he had made in his somewhat endless lifetime. It was probably the most sane thing one could find him doing, as every thing else had no rhyme or reason to it, unless he happened to be quoting a rather intriguing bit of poetry.

Underland had not changed much since the fall of the Red Queen. The animals seemed happier, and the forests had finally recovered from the drought that followed the darkest part of the Hatter's history. Indeed, Time seemed to have forgotten it's place in Underland's realm once again, not that anyone there seemed to mind that one bit. He frequently found himself drinking tea, although it did feel to him as if it were missing something, or rather _someone_. She was gone now, though, and he couldn't allow himself to linger on it or else he would began breaking the tea cups. It caused a strange feeling that he did not find pleasurable to occur in his chest.

He was working on his four thousandth, six hundred and fifty third hat when he heard the rustling outside his castle window. There were quick footsteps, and he could hear rushed voices, though he was too busy pondering words beginning with "M" to concern himself with it so much. He placed the lace he was holding on the ancient table before leaning out the window, and climbing to meet the Queen where she stood, a bright smile lining her face as always.

"Oy. Who is that?" Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum asked, the Hatter couldn't be bothered with specifics because at that moment a woman with blonde, flowing hair was coming towards them, her smile as familiar as the hat making trade to him.

"Her name is Alice." The Hatter said excitedly, watching the woman approach. She was older than he had last seen her. Time did that to people from her world, or so he had heard. She did not appear to have aged much, as he didn't understand or care for Time, he couldn't decide how old she would be now.

"Alice! She's returned! Whatever for, I wonder?" The White Rabbit next to him asked, he could not answer that question, though. There was no Jabberwock that needed slaying, or Red Queen to overthrow. She wasn't even late for tea, although the March Hare held a broken cup in his hand, as the woman named Alice approached.

"Alice, how long it has been." The White Queen smiled to the newly arrived guest.

Alice was wearing blue again, as she always seemed to be doing. Her blond hair had grown even longer, however she no longer had any traces of being a child lingering on her beautiful, angle-like face.

"I have finished in the Otherland. I missed everyone terribly." She said in her soft voice, smiling at all those gathered to greet this strange new girl.

She found the Hatter and moved towards him, her eyes softening at the sight of the familiar mad man, reaching out a hand to touch his hair, and he found himself pausing, wondering if everything they said about him was true. Perhaps he was mad.

"Your hair has grown, Hatter." She said gently, and he smiled at her. It wasn't his normal smile that was laced with insanity, but a soft smile that he only ever used for her.

"You did not forget." He said, all traces of the usual madness not apparent on him. She laughed softly.

"No, not even in six years time could I forget you, my dear Hatter." Her voice tinkled, and she held a hand in his, and he felt his torso expand with an indescribable feeling.

"Oh, Alice, I did miss you terribly so." He said, and she smiled, touching his pale face with a gentle stroke of her small hand.

"I missed you too, my wonderful Hatter." She said, leaning forward, her lips managing to brush his ever so softly in a way that he could never remember ever having experiencing in his life.

"Did you ever manage to find out what ravens and writing desks have to do with one another?" She asked, a laugh in her voice. He grinned at her and pulled her into a hug.

"I had forgotten that I needed to remember to look it up." He said. She laughed yet again.

"You are mad, my dear Hatter." She spoke, touching his face again.

"You are also, Alice. As long as this madness includes you, I should think that I will enjoy it." He said simply, and she nodded in agreement.

"As will I, Hatter."

It was just under thousand hats later, she returned, never to leave the Mad Hatter again, as Time was never an issue in Underland.


End file.
